


Du und Ich (in diesem Polaroidbild)

by grayqueen



Category: Dark (TV 2017)
Genre: BAMF Women, Canon Compliant, Coming of Age, Consensual, Dark, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Minor Character Death, Noabeth - Freeform, Noah loves Elisabeth, OTP Feels, Post-Canon, Sad Jonas, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:29:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25219306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grayqueen/pseuds/grayqueen
Summary: At first, he had thought that treating her as he used to treat Agnes, when she was little, was the most logical option, but soon after, he realized that Elisabeth was nothing like Agnes. Actually, she was nothing like anyone he knew.She was one bold and extroverted young girl, and although she had been shy and wary of him at first, they had quickly adapted to each other rather well.His older self had told him about Elisabeth, about the girl of the blond hair and hazel eyes. He had told him that he had to take care of her, but he never told him how much he would grow to care about her and how complex their relationship would be.
Relationships: Elisabeth Doppler/Noah | Hanno Tauber
Comments: 19
Kudos: 90





	Du und Ich (in diesem Polaroidbild)

**Author's Note:**

> Ever since I finished watching Dark, I've been obsessed with this couple. I can't believe we only got one episode about them so this is sort of my way to get more of it.

**Du und Ich (in diesem Polaroidbild)**

**2020**

Elisabeth and Hanno did not meet as normal couples do. Neither for the 1921 nor for the 2020’s standards.

To begin with, they came from very different worlds, and their meeting had been a sad one.

His older self, Noah, had warned him about what the future held. He had told him vaguely about a blond girl with olive eyes that he would have to take care of and protect at all costs. He hadn’t gone into details, but he had talked about her with reverence and pronounced her name like a caress. In a similar manner to how his father used to talk about his mother.

_Elisabeth_

At first, Hanno had been reluctant, but he never opposed his older-self quests nor did he doubt his advice. After all, this was himself, and who could be more loyal to him than himself?

So, he followed Noah’s instructions. He arrived to 2020 and he went into Khanwald’s house at the right time. He knew she was with his father, and he knew that knowing the man’s fate was of little importance.

 _“You have to act in the same way I did, and follow the same path in order to become what I am now. In order to know what I do know,”_ Noah had said, and Hanno could agree with that, _“She will come to you, you only need to let her know where to find you. Be kind to her,”_

And that’s exactly what he did.

A few days later, he returned to the cave to find her sitting on a pile of clothes that functioned as a makeshift bed. Her knees were pulled into her chest. She was shivering from the cold and perhaps shock, and there was a nasty wound on her forehead that had not been there when he had met her at the Khanwald’s.

He regarded her with a sad expression. He didn’t know her, yet he had felt extremely relieved to find her there. Her hazel eyes met his blue ones and right then and there he knew deep down in his heart that he would do anything and everything for her. 

He walked to her, but he stopped when he noticed her tensing. He rose up his hands as if to show her that he meant no harm and he signed.

“You’re safe now,” He had said in slow movements as he spoke out loud as well. His sign language was poor, but he knew enough to convey basic meaning,

Elisabeth regarded him for almost a full minute before nodding once and then repeatedly as her eyes watered and her features turned into a raw look of sadness.

She cried herself to sleep that night, and she remained completely silent during the first day after that. She didn’t speak to him, and she was wary of him.

He felt an unexplained pang of anger when he noticed the red marks on both of her wrists, but he didn’t ask about them. Instead, he boiled some water that had been previously filtered and gave her some tea from a bag that he had checked had been completely sealed, along with can of tuna.

She didn’t eat the tuna, but she drank the tea, and while that worried him a little, he didn’t comment on the matter.

He let her mourn for two whole days not knowing how to approach her or how to console her. She hadn’t cried again since the first, but her look had been distant and it seemed as if her features had been locked into an expressionless look. She didn’t eat anything on the second day except for the three cups of tea he prepared for her during the day.

On the third day, however, he put his foot down.

He approached her form and he kneeled next to where she had been lying, curled into a tight ball, since the day she had arrived. She had been facing the rocks of the wall of the cave, but he turned to look at him with expressionless eyes when she sensed him close.

He looked pointedly downwards, and Elisabeth followed his sight to the can he was holding. He offered it to her with one hand, but when she didn’t move to grab it, he showed her a piece of paper with the other hand.

 _You need to eat._ It read in big bold letters, and since she hadn’t noticed him writing anything down, Elisabeth concluded that her refusal had been expected.

The girl looked up at him and Hanno nodded at the can once more as he offered it to her again.

She shook her head once and looked away from him, but Hanno didn’t accept that. He placed the can on the floor, near to her and he sat more comfortably on the ground before crossing his arms over his chest and stared at her with a serious expression. He made it clear that he wouldn’t take a no for an answer.

After three minutes of him looking at her like a hawk, Elisabeth turned around to glare at him.

He held her gaze for a little while and then looked pointedly at the can. Elisabeth frowned at him, but eventually, she gave in and she squirmed over the makeshift bed until she was sitting in a similar position to his.

She looked defiantly at him one last time before taking the can. It was spaghetti and a plastic fork were already sticking out of it.

She tangled the spaghetti on the fork and introduced it into her mouth. It tasted good for canned food, but that probably was because she hadn’t eaten in two whole days. She took another bite and then another one, without looking up at him, yet knowing that he was still looking at her.

Once she was done, she placed the empty can on the same place where Hanno had left it and when she looked up at him, he regarded her with faint half smile. He took the can from the floor and then replaced it with slightly warm tea served in the same metal cup she had been drinking from since the day before.

He didn’t have to press her into drinking the tea. The blond took it with both hands and brought it to her lips. She took a sip as she watched Hanno pull out a small notebook and a pen.

_More food?_

Elisabeth shook her head twice, and she looked at him for a little while as if considering something.

Her father was still on the trailer, and flashes of the photographs of the dead people at the military camp came flashing to her. She didn’t want a picture of her father on that horrible place. She felt her eyes ache and she took another sip from the tea.

Hanno noticed her unease, and he showed her the notebook once more,

_What is it?_

She put the cup down and she made grabby hands to the notebook.

Hanno passed her it and the pen to her without getting too close to her.

_My dad is still at the trailer._

Hanno had to lean forward to see what she had wrote in small letters. Once he registered what she meant he looked up at her. He nodded once and then asked for the notebook.

_We can go for him, if you want._

He knew her father was dead, and he knew that there was nothing he could do to console her, except for this. Except to give her closure, and somewhere she could visit her father when the reality of life was too much to handle.

Elisabeth stared at him in shock and then her eyes softened before nodding several times.

She watched him rummage around the cave as he gathered some things. A backpack, a lantern, a knife, an old looking pistol, and a shovel.

She looked puzzled at him as he placed the gun under the waist of his pants, and the knife at his belt for easy reach. Once ready, he offered his hand to her and she took it. He pulled her up easily and gave her her raincoat.

As Elisabeth put it one, he walked to one of the cavities on the wall of the cave and he took a piece of fabric. It was a dark shade of purple, and it had some stains, but it was clean. He motioned it over his mouth and nose to show her how to wear it before he handed it to her.

Elisabeth took it from him and she put it on like a mask. He pulled his own on and he hung the backpack over his shoulders. After they were ready, the left the cave.

Hanno took them first to the police office building where he searched for a body bag, careful that Elisabeth wouldn’t see it. He put it hastily away in the backpack and then they made their way to where the trailer was.

Even though he knew the location of the trailer, he let Elisabeth lead the way. It was a bit of a long walk, but it was late in the afternoon and there was still sunlight.

Once they arrived at the trailer, he looked around their surroundings to make sure no one had been following them, and then he looked down at her. He gave her the shovel with the thought that if someone were to approach, she wouldn't be staying there unarmed while he retrieved the body of her father.

She took it from him and then looked up to him.

 _“Stay here,”_ he said in slow movements and Elisabeth nodded,

He opened the door of the trailer and closed it behind him to make sure Elisabeth couldn’t see inside.

He found two bodies in the camper. One that belonged to a man whom Hanno didn’t recognize and to which he paid no attention and the other one that belonged to Elisabeth’s father. One look at the man’s neck was enough to understand how he had died, and why Noah had told him that man had been killed. He took out the body bag from his backpack and laid it open in the small space available.

It was not the first time he handled a body, but with the knowledge that this man had been the father of the girl waiting outside, he did it with respect. He closed the zipper over it, ignoring his own painful memories and when he was done, he looked around the place to spot things that could be of use later.

He found some cans of food and a couple of Elisabeth’s clothes and he put them away in the backpack. He did it quickly and efficiently, not wanting Elisabeth to stay alone for long.

Once he was done, he walked to the door of the camper, but before he opened it, something orange near to it caught his attention. It was an orange small hat with the shape of a fox. He could easily picture Elisabeth wearing the thing before the apocalypse had started, and he quickly took it as well before opening the door of the camper.

He found her standing right where he had left her, and she made way for him to get out. A look of hurt crossed her features when she noticed the body bag after him.

He handed her the backpack and helped her to put it on.

There was a cemetery were people that had died during the apocalypse or short after had been buried, but he didn’t want to take Elisabeth there. He didn’t want to take her to a place where she could see the names of people she probably knew, written down in hastily done crosses.

He placed the bag carefully on the ground and he asked for her notebook.

He asked where she wanted them to take her father, and after watching her look blankly at the piece of paper, he suggested that it had to be somewhere they could visit.

Elisabeth looked at him softly and she wrote down,

_The woods_

Hanno nodded and let her lead the way. By the time they arrived to the place she chose, it was already dark, and she had been lighting the way with the lantern as he dragged the bag behind him. Once there, he placed the bag carefully on the ground and he sat Elisabeth down on a near rock before he started to work.

It was perhaps one of the saddest moments in Elisabeth’s life, but she was glad her father would have a place to rest, unlike her mother and sister. A place she could visit.

Once Hanno was done, he rummaged for something in the backpack and her eyes widened when she noticed it was a blue plastic flower. He handed it to her and then he looked at her father’s grave.

Rain started to pour down, and silent tears rolled down her eyes as this boy, this stranger, did perhaps one of the most meaningful things someone could do in a place where people didn’t behave like people anymore.

Elisabeth took the flower from him and placed it reverently over the dirt. She looked at it with a sad smile before blowing a soft kiss to the ground. Her family was not particularly religious, but at that moment, Elisabeth liked to think that wherever her father was, he would probably be relieved that she wouldn’t be alone.

From that point onwards, Elisabeth had a feeling that that young man could be someone in whom she could trust.

* * *

**2023**

Elisabeth and Hanno’s relationship did not develop as normal couples do. Neither for the 1921 nor 2020’s standards.

They grew up in different times, conditions, and beliefs, and sometimes those differences made them clash.

His older self had told him about Elisabeth, about the girl of the blond hair and hazel eyes. He had told him that he had to take care of her, but he never told him how and quick and how much he would grow to care about her.

At first, he had thought that treating her as he used to treat Agnes when she was little was the most logical reason, but soon after, he realized that Elisabeth was nothing like Agnes. Actually, she was nothing like anyone he knew.

She was one bold and extroverted young girl, and although she had been shy and wary of him at first, they quickly adapted to each other rather well.

During their first year of living together, Elisabeth had taught him sign language, and they always practiced after a long day of scavenging for necessities and digging the caves to find the passage to Paradise.

In the beginning, it had been him who pretty much provided for both of them. Who hunted for rodents of the land and cut wood for the fire with which they cooked or warmed themselves in their cold musty cave, while Elisabeth entertained herself, with whatever she could find.

However, that did not last for long.

Elisabeth wanted to do more besides helping him to dig the passage, like going with him when he went to town to get things they needed.

In the beginning, he hadn’t loved the idea. From where he came from, men were the providers, while housework fell on the women. Yet they lived in a cave, so circumstances were not really comparable.

Contrastingly, Elisabeth’s mindset was different from his in regards to daily aspects of life. She didn’t come from a world where the greatest expectation of women was to marry. She had grown up in a family where her mother was as much provider as her father, and her father took care of housework as much as her mother.

“This is the 21st century,” she had told him in pointed movements as she rolled her eyes at him, before returning her attention to twist a piece of wire this way and that, following the instructions in the book they had found in what was left of the library during their latest trips to town.

It was survival’s guide book. One from which she had learned to build things such as traps for small rodents, much more efficient than Hanno’s original one’s, and even which plants were edible, which weren’t, and which had medical proprieties.

So, in the end, he had accepted rather quickly that things now were not how they had been back then, and the distribution of tasks made their life much simpler and even improved their dynamic.

Personally, they also became friends and they developed mutual trust and care for the other.

Hanno hadn’t realized just how much he had grown to care for Elisabeth after one particular scare.

He had woken to the sound of her teeth chattering. They slept together in a pile of clothes placed on the ground of the cave, but that night had not been particularly cold. 

He looked blindly for the lamp he always kept at close reach and he turned it on. Elisabeth was curled against him as if she had been searching for a source of warmth during the night. At first, he had thought it was a nightmare, but her brow was not twisted into a frown and her cheeks were red.

He placed one hand on her cheek and forehead, and he frowned when he noticed that her temperature was running higher than normal. He pulled the covers away from them and he went looking for a wet cloth. Elisabeth moved to the spot he had been previously occupying but she didn’t wake up. Seconds later, he came back placed the damp cloth over her forehead.

This time she did wake up, but he stared at him with unfocused eyes and slightly labored breathing.

At first, he treated it like a normal cold.

It had not been the first time one of the two had caught a cold before, and they both knew what to do. Keep the fever down and drink lots of fluids. The last time it had been him who had fallen sick, but Elisabeth had taken care of him offering hot soup, that had tasted rather well, and given him time to rest as she made it quite obvious that there would be no digging that day. The cold had been gradual, but the worst part of it did not last longer than a day, and later, when he had gotten better, they had sat together as Elisabeth told him animatedly about random topics of her interests which he found it curious that ranged from natural sciences to history or beauty products of the 21st century.

However, two days passed by, and Elisabeth hadn’t gotten better.

He didn’t really know what to do, and he was worried it would be something more serious. He had taken her sweater off and he had only allowed her a thin cover, but the fever did not broke.

So, with a final look to her sleeping form, he went searching for the town’s doctor living at what still remained of the Winden’s high-school.

He had to exchange one of Elisabeth’s hunting traps for a thermometer and antipyretics, and a set of bullets for the medic’s services, and it was okay. He’d have given the medic even what he had been wearing if that meant getting her medical attention.

The doctor was a middle-aged woman that used to work at Winden’s hospital and she had diagnosed Elisabeth with the flu. She told him she had no antivirals, but she prescribed her medicine for the symptoms, lots of water, food, and rest. When he asked her how she could have gotten him, but that it was highly probable that he had gotten it as well but did not develop signs. He was young and healthy. 

Eventually, her fever finally broke, and she regained her good spirits.

He had been so relieved when he had come back from getting some water to find her sitting on the pile of clothes looking slightly disconcerted, sweaty and tired, but overall well.

He had pretty much run to crouch in front of her to touch her forehead with the back of his hand, noticing it was no longer hot, but rather warm.

“How are you feeling,” he asked in slow movements. The faint light of the lamp casting shadows in his face.

“Tired but okay,” she signed but before he could answer to her, she added “It was only a cold,” she said making a comical face. 

Hanno laughed shortly,

“You scared me for a second,” he said in slow movements and Elisabeth smiled at him,

She looked thoughtfully for a bit a while and then with no warning she leaned closer to him. She put her hands at both sides of his neck and she pulled her forward to her before placing her forehead against his. He stayed there frozen to the spot as they stared at each other before Elisabeth smiled and let him go. He hadn’t known where that had come from, but he could tell it had been Elisabeth’s most honest way to express a thank you or perhaps reassurance.

He smiled at her before passing one hand over her head playfully.

A couple of months later, Hanno brought Jonas to the cave to show him that they had found the passage.

Elisabeth and he had been happy to see someone they knew before the apocalypse, and Hanno had been okay with being her interpreter as they caught up with the recent and latest events.

* * *

**2026**

Elisabeth and Hanno’s relationship did not develop as normal couples do. Neither for the 1921 nor for the 2020’s standards. 

In fact, at first, he never thought it would go anywhere beyond friendship, or perhaps some sort of… brotherhood feeling. Though the thought of Elisabeth as a sister gave him chills, and his mind was always quick to discard that idea.

His older self had told him about Elisabeth, about how bold and stubborn she was, but he had never said how complex their relationship would be, and he sure as fuck had not mentioned how intense would he feel about her.

The realization that Elisabeth was no longer a child had hit him like a brick wall, and it also had been on her fifteenth birthday.

Changes had been slow, and almost indiscernible, but the first time he had noticed them it had been as if a veil had been taken off his eyes, and he had cursed himself when he had realized that he was considering _possibilities_.

More often than not he caught himself staring at the curve of her hips, even when he had no idea when the fuck had she grown curves. Her long hair, which he had braided and even played with before, now seemed alluring that he wanted to run his fingers through it and tangle his fingers on it. Her lips seemed soft as did the creamy skin and he usually had to stop himself from wondering what it would feel against his own lips.

Such thoughts had come easily and recurrently, and they always felt like some sort of punishment. They frustrated him, and they made him mad at himself.

He was older than her. Seven years older to be exact. He was an adult, and she was a girl in the middle of puberty.

Also, he usually found himself contrasting the timing and imagining how things would be different had they been living in the 90s. From where he came, marriages between people with an age gap like theirs were certainly not uncommon, and while fifteen was considered an early age to marry, it was not frowned upon, but quite the contrary, it was even encouraged.

But then again, Elisabeth was no girl from the 90s, and in regards to this, they were very different.

He had had experience with women before. Experience with sexuality, while she had had none. He didn’t even know if she knew about the birds and the bees, and therefore he felt as if he was taking advantage of her. Not with his actions, he would kill himself before that and he was no barbarian, but rather with his thoughts.

So that was how Hanno figured that he had to put some distance between them.

He started by giving Elisabeth her own mattress, and had the cabin in the woods Jonas had helped them build been wider, he would have given her her own room as well. He also stopped touching her or getting too close to her. Ever since his perspective of her had changed, he felt that every touch, no matter how innocent it was, would be tainted by the true nature of his want.

At first, he had hoped that Elisabeth wouldn’t notice, but of course, she had, and Elisabeth hadn’t liked it. Not one bit. She was used to be close to him, and touches were very common for her, so it had been well expected when she faced him.

So, one day, it came as no surprise when Elisabeth asked him about it

“Are you mad at me?” Elisabeth asked him one day during breakfast, a frown on her face as she moved her arms to convey her thoughts,

“No, why?” He signed and spoke out loud. Early in their relationship, he had found it was easier that way.

“You’ve been avoiding me, you are distant,” she said in viscous movements,

“That’s not true,” he signed calmly, knowing already that she would call him on his shit,

Elisabeth squinted her eyes at him and punched at his arm with mild force. It did not particularly hurt, but he knew that it was one of her ways of letting him know that she was particularly upset and that she would take no crap. It was also the kind of treatment he would get whenever she had to remind him to not treat her like a child ‑even when she still sort of was one.

Hanno looked at her angry eyes for a couple of seconds. Elisabeth was not only angry at him, but she was also hurt. Hanno had hurt her… even when trying to protect her.

“I’m sorry, I just think you need space… and privacy,” Hanno signed clearly as he watched as her expression shifted into a confused one. 

“What for?” she asked in quick movements.

“You are growing up. Grown-up girls get their own bed, privacy, and space,”

“I don’t like it,” she signed pointedly to emphasize her opinion on the matter.

“It’s better this way,” Hanno had signed, and before she could ask why, he was quick to add “Trust me,”

Her frown had deepened at his words, but she had ended up dropping the topic.

He shifted on the bed, placing her carefully on the mattress as he sneaked out of it. Elisabeth was a heavy sleeper.

He walked out of the cabin to prepare for one more day in the wasteland.

* * *

**2027 – (Elisabeth is 17, almost 18)**

Elisabeth and Hanno did not become a couple as normal couples do. Neither for the 1921 nor for the 2020’s standards.

There were no flowers nor a nice dinner involved. Neither did he ask for her parent’s permission nor he courted her as was tradition.

Actually, when it happened, it had been unexpected and they had been very mad at each other.

That day they had planned to try a new adjustment to the experiments Claudia had designed in order to get to stabilize the God Particle. Those days were the hardest, as Hanno would leave early in the morning and then return late in the night, wearing a tired expression after another fruitless day.

He and Jonas had told her before what they were trying to do, yet they never succeeded at that. Sometimes there were slight changes when they thought Claudia had finally made it, but those were only short-lived and they always ended up in the same way.

Elisabeth had been in the plant before, she had seen with her own eyes the gigantic ball of strange matter swirl and move strangely over them. It had been quite impressive, and Claudia had even explained a few things and given her a book or two about the basics of physics.

She had been in elementary school when the apocalypse occurred, so she never really received a lecture about physics, much less about the particular field of quantum theory. So, it had all been almost as new to her as it had been to Hanno, and both of them had been very impressed by it.

Also, she had been very impressed by Claudia Tiedemann.

Although she had never met the woman before the apocalypse, she knew her daughter Regina Tiedemann and her grandson Bartosz, which Franziska had never particularly liked. Either way, Claudia was a very intelligent woman, which reminded her a bit of her mother. Claudia was determined and strong-willed, and never did she lost hope of eventually being able to stabilize the God particle, even after failure followed by more failure.

Regina was the one who came with the ideas for the experiments. The one who made the calculations and solved the long equations needed in order to improve a variable or two. And, while Elisabeth was more interested in life sciences, she could tell that Claudia Tiedemann’s job was no easy thing.

Hanno didn’t like Claudia. He felt like she was hiding something from them so he didn’t trust her, but even though he had let Jonas know that the other knew that they would achieve nothing without her.

Elisabeth herself liked the woman. Hell, Claudia was even a role model to her, but she couldn’t deny either that Hanno was usually right when it came to people that gave him strange vibes.

Hanno was a hunter through and through, and his instincts were as sharp as his abilities. He was observant and he was smart, so when he said that something was off, most of the time he was right about it. Also, he trusted no one but her and Jonas, and though that had saved their lives more than once, she sometimes thought that Hanno was exaggerating. What hidden reasons could the woman have? Claudia had told them in no uncertain terms that she wanted this to work for her daughter Regina to live. Really live.

Didn’t Jonas want the same? Didn’t she want the same thing? For everybody to live?

Either way, the days spent at the plant were always the worst.

Those days, Hanno always came back home tired and resigned, so Elisabeth had made a bit of a tradition to have something warm for them to eat. Not because they had settled into gender roles, they were not like that, but rather because Elisabeth felt that having food warm and ready for when he returned home, seemed a good way to cheer him up.

Although, one day, in particular, Elisabeth had decided she would prepare a surprise for him.

His 23rd birthday would be in a few days, so she had thought that an early celebration would be well appreciated.

That day, after wishing him goodbye that morning, she packed a bag and left the house in order to get some things they needed and see if she could find him a birthday gift as well.

The days away from each other for long were not usual, so she had to make the most of that one while she could.

Elisabeth had been sure she would be back before him. She was wrong.

That afternoon, Hanno came back to find no lights coming from inside the cabin. He took off his backpack, throwing it carelessly on the floor, and went into the cabin, but Elisabeth was nowhere in sight. His heart accelerated as he looked under both their mattresses, and he called for her, even when he knew that she couldn’t hear him. He started to panic when started looking for her around the wood near the cabin, but she still couldn’t find her.

Elisabeth liked to wander around to place tramps or see if there were any edible fungi, but she never went far away, and his mind started providing possibilities of the worst-case scenario.

An hour later, after finding no signs of her, Hanno had been ready to go to Jonas for help when he noticed her hooded form approaching.

He could make tell it was Elisabeth from meters away. Even when she was covered in several layers of clothing.

Relief washed through him and he pretty much ran to her. As he got closer, he noticed Elisabeth staring at him in surprise.

She really had thought she would get home before him.

He ran his arms over her shoulders and arms as if to make sure that she was alright. The motion reminded Elisabeth so much of that time when her mother had not picked her from school and she had returned home soaking wet.

Once Hanno saw that she was fine, he pulled away from her.

“Where were you?” His worry was evident in the rapid movements of his arms and lips. He was most likely also talking out loud.

Elisabeth took off the purple piece of clothing that she used as a mask, and then she bit her lip in nervousness as she considered lying to him for a second, but she quickly discarded the idea. Their relationship had been based on trust.

Damn it. She really had thought she would beat him home.

“I went to town,” she signed simply.

“Alone?” He asked in rapid and pointed movements.

“I needed some things,” She explained

Elisabeth was almost eighteen years old now. She was no longer the ten-year-old girl that had come to him after losing what little family she still had left. She now knew how to take care of herself. Hanno himself had taught her simple but effective moves to defend herself and even how to shoot a gun. He had even been impressed when he had noticed that her aim was quite good.

Elisabeth no longer needed constant supervision from him. She could stay on her own and she even went to town by herself to get things they needed. Although, she never took long and she always let him know where she was going. Not because she had any obligation to tell him, but because it was reassuring for him. In a similar manner, he always told her where he was going and how long would he be gone. And although they rarely went out alone, it was a safety measure. In the wasteland, where people didn’t behave like people anymore, they (and Jonas) were pretty much the only people they could rely on.

This time, however, she had told him nothing. She had wanted it to be a surprise.

“I was worried,” Hanno signed, and while Elisabeth felt slightly guilty, she felt he was exaggerating.

“I can take care of myself,” she reminded him in rapid movements with a frown on her face.

When she was done, she crossed her arms. It was kind of frustrating. Not only had her plans been cut short, but also, he was acting overprotectively.

Hanno looked at her and he felt a pang of anger.

It was a bit of a common quarrel between them.

“I know!” Hanno signed frustratingly, “but what if something happened to you and I don’t know where you are?”

The day of her father’s death hadn’t been the only scare they’ve gone through. The wasteland was a dangerous place for everyone, especially for young women. In a no man’s land, survival was pretty much ruled by Darwinian law.

“I’m no little girl anymore,” Elisabeth said with pointed movements,

“It is still dangerous,” Hanno insisted and she glared at him,

“Why are you so worried?” she signed challengingly

“Because you’re the most important person to me!” Hanno said out loud before he grabbed Elisabeth by the shoulders.

The blond young woman looked at him in shock. Not needing him to translate to sign language for her to understand what he had said. 

Elisabeth looked at him meaningfully, and she pulled at her sweater underneath her grey rain jacket to expose the gun placed under the waist of her cargo pants.

It was a P30 pistol, all black, and it contrasted against the white of the smooth creamy skin of her stomach. She took the gun and he gave it to him in one smooth movement.

Surprised, he took it from her and he noticed that it had the safety on.

When he looked up to Elisabeth’s olive eyes, she raised an eyebrow at him.

“I am not an idiot, Hanno,” she signed as she also mouthed at him. 

Perhaps under different conditions, he would have found the idea of a girl of her age with a gun a bit scandalizing. But in times like theirs, he found it reassuringly that Elisabeth did take measures to protect herself.

He rushed to put the gun under his belt in order to reply,

“I never meant that!” He said in quick movements before he sighed and forced himself to relax. He ran a hand through his hair as he took a breath.

“Right,” he signed “I’m sorry. I came home and I got worried when I didn’t see you here,” Hanno admitted.

Elisabeth’s own angry expression softened and she sighed as well,

“I was preparing a surprise for you,” she moved her arms more calmly, 

“What?!” He asked out loud with surprise evident in his face.

Elisabeth didn’t need to have that translated to sign language; she could read his lips easily, especially when he was facing her.

“It was supposed to be an early birthday present,” she signed slowly.

She didn’t wait for him to reply before taking her backpack off and put it on the ground. After a bit of rummaging, she took out the radio/cd player that she had brought.

It was a medium-sized rectangular device. It had some buttons and it reminded him of the device that Jonas had that he used to play music. It was always the same 12 songs, but Hanno had been fascinated at it.

He took it from her carefully and he inspected it from both sides. It was a bit dusty but overall it was in good condition. He looked up at her with a smile,

“I love it,” he said with one hand,

He took Elisabeth’s backpack from her, and he put the device carefully into the backpack before placing it over one shoulder.

“I can’t wait to try it,” he signed before pulling Elisabeth into a hug.

He felt like such a jerk, yet he had been honest to God worried, and this young woman was definitely going to be the death of him.

She returned the gesture placing his arms around his middle. Their difference in height was not that different anymore. He was still taller than her, but he didn’t have to crouch anymore to see each other clearly.

They stayed like that for several seconds before they pulled apart.

“Are you mad?” She signed,

Hanno shook his head twice,

“Just worried,” he signed

Elisabeth looked softly at him.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized, but before Hanno could reply to her, she lifted her arms.

She placed her hands on his cheeks and she pulled him to her. Their foreheads touched and they looked at each other in the eye.

It was not the first time she had done that to him, but he knew that that gesture was extremely rare. Actually, he could count with one hand the times she had done it, and it never failed to make him feel the warmth.

He allowed himself to rest his hands on her hips and she smiled at him.

They stayed like that for several seconds.

And while Hanno knew better than to keep her close, his most selfish side decided that he would allow it only for a moment, and then he would pull away. He enjoyed the feeling of her warm breathing against him and memorized her slightly calloused warm hands on his skin.

His eyes fell to her lips, and he found himself thinking that it would be so easy to just lean in the rest the way and test if Elisabeth’s lips were really as soft as they looked or if her hair would be as silky.

Before his thoughts could go any further, he started to back away, but Elisabeth’s hold on him tightened and with no previous warning he pulled him into a kiss.

Hanno froze in his spot for a moment, and then he finally gave in. He dragged his hands to the small of her back and he pulled her fully to him to deepen the kiss. Elisabeth made a noise of approval at the back of her throat and his hold on her tightened.

The kiss was sloppy, but by no means was it bad. She tasted like apples, sugar, and pretty much like what he hoped paradise would be. They kissed for several seconds enjoying the feeling of it before they pulled apart almost in synchrony.

Elisabeth still had her hands on him, and she was looking at him with dilated pupils.

She gave him a foxy smile and he knew right then and there that there was no going back to the way they had been before.

Elisabeth pulled him into another kiss and he complied easily. This time her tongue pressed against his and he lifted one hand to place it at the back of her neck to tilt her head to a better angle.

While the first kiss had been sweet and a bit sloppy, the second was more passionate and almost desperate. It had been as if the years of wanting had finally found a let out. And it felt so good.

Without stopping, she started to push him in the direction of their cabin and Hanno got the hint rather quick.

He slipped his hands back to the small of her back and pulled her into him, lifting her from the ground and carrying her inside the cabin. He closed the door behind him and took her backpack off his shoulder with one hand while holding Elisabeth steady against him with the other as she delivered the butterfly kisses along his jaw.

He had known Elisabeth had some interest in him. She had told him so before in a quite forward manner. However, it never occurred to him that her feelings for him were probably as intense.

Soon after, they were falling on the nearest mattress, which happened to be hers. Elisabeth straddling his waist as his back rested against the fluffy pillow, he had given her for her last birthday.

She placed a hand over his cheek and she caressed it with her thumb. Dragging slightly her slightly calloused fingers against his soft skin.

They stared at each other for a while. The desire for the other reflecting on their eyes, as if they didn’t need words in order to communicate.

Hanno wanted her. He had wanted her for a while now, and Elisabeth had expressed a similar desire before, but he had never given in. Not even when he had realized two years ago that the child he had found in that cave had slowly but surely been turning into a young woman. A young and beautiful woman who sometimes drove him insane yet for whom he would die in a heartbeat.

He raised a hand for her to see, but before he could do any gesture, Elisabeth closed the distance between them to kiss him once more.

Unbeknown to him, Elisabeth didn’t want to see what he had to say because she didn’t want him pushing her away with some lame excuse of her not being old enough. She was old enough for consent according to Germany’s law in force, she had checked, and whatever Hanno was telling himself was making them both miserable.

She would be eighteen in a few months, and legally an adult, if someone, besides Hanno, still gave a damn about the law anymore.

She felt him place a hand on her shoulder and pushed slightly at it.

Elisabeth buried her face on the crook of his neck, refusing stubbornly, but when he placed a hand bellow her chin to get her attention, she grudgingly complied.

“Do you want this?” He signed in one hand.

His breathing was fast, but he was making an effort to calm himself down enough to ask her. He didn’t have to explain what ‘this’ meant. Elisabeth had been quite forward with that topic.

Her eyes lightened slightly and she nodded enthusiastically before she leaned down to kiss him once more.

Their kisses became more passionate, as their tongues started a sensual dance, and when he parted away for them to breathe, Elisabeth bite at his lower lip playfully.

Soon after, they started removing each other’s clothing. He took off her rain jacket and then her sweater as she pulled his shirt up his head.

They moved sensually against the other enjoying the friction whenever one of them moved this way or that way until they were half dressed.

Hanno took her by the waist and he rolled them on the bed to place Elisabeth underneath him. He leaned back to drink in the sight of her form as his fingers roamed up and down her sides.

He dragged his fingers up the outer side of her leg, and through the skin of her stomach before placing his hand over one of her breasts. Meanwhile, Elisabeth’s fingers gripped encouragingly at his hair.

With his lips, he started a trail down her throat, to her neckbone, and stopped the middle of her chest. He slipped a hand behind her back and hooked his fingers on the border of her sports bra before pulling it off her. Elisabeth helped him by slipping her arms through the straps.

He looked down at her in appreciation before lowering his lips to the soft creamy skin. He heard Elisabeth gasp when his tongue circled a nipple and he made sure to repeat the motion. 

Elisabeth’s breath caught in her throat and came out in the form of a ragged moan of pleasure. Elisabeth vocalization was so rare, and never before that it would sound so sensual. Her hold on his hair tightened as she ran her other hand up and down his back. She arched up at him and blindly rolled her hips up to his, making them moan.

He took his mouth off her and paid similar attention to her other mound as all she could to was to encourage it. After a couple of minutes of that, he pulled slightly away to look at her.

Her blond hair was sprawled like a halo around her head. Her eyes were tightly close and her mouth was slightly opened as she arched into him. He looked at her carefully, drinking in the look and memorizing it.

He kept the treatment for a little while until Elisabeth starting to roll her hips against him once more.

They got rid of the rest of their clothes and after playful caresses, he finally pressed into her.

The feeling was indescribable. She was so warm and tight, but he remained completely still, allowing her to get used to him.

He peppered butterfly kisses all along her lips, cheeks, and forehead as if trying to kiss the pain away as she adjusted to him.

Several seconds went by before Elisabeth started to move against him, making them both groan in pleasure. Their eyes locked and Elisabeth nodded at him in a clear go-ahead signal. She was biting her lip and the blush on her cheeks and neck only made her look even more alluring.

He started to move slowly and sensually against her. In and out of her while drinking in the feeling of her skin and her warmth against him.

The warmth gathering at her core started to spread all through her body as his movements became faster, her breathing became labored and her eyes closed tightly. She dug her nails on Hanno’s naked back and soon after she saw completely white as yet another sound of pleasure was ripped from her throat. Sweat started to gather at the roots of their hair and Hanno’s thrusts lost rhythm. For a moment both of them could swear they had gotten a glimpse of Paradise.

Once consciousness returned to them, both of them were breathing fast, and Elisabeth was trembling underneath him. He looked down at her with adoring eyes and leaned in to kiss her fully before letting himself fall at her side.

The mattress was not big enough for the both of them, but they could manage alright cramped against the other, as they tried to catch their breath and waited for their rabid heartbeats to slow down.

Once they had regained their breath, and calmness had reigned around them, Elisabeth placed a hand on his cheek to caught his attention.

He turned to look at her with a smile and hearts in his eyes.

“I love you,” she signed with one hand and Hanno’s eyes widened before leaning in to kiss her.

“I love you more,” he signed in the same way she had.

They fell asleep together basking on each other’s warmth and company, knowing that this could certainly be considered Paradise.

**Author's Note:**

> I think I messed up my tenses but I hope you had liked it. Cheers!


End file.
